Business: China Syndrome

Since the new opening of China three years ago, Western businessmen have
faced a Great Wall of ignorance about that country's industries. Even
some government ministers did not have a firm grasp on the situation
inside the country. Last July, when economic figures were released for
the first time in nearly 25 years, Chinese government officials
admitted privately that some of the numbers came from declassified
reports of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Now the most detailed and comprehensive work ever done on a major
segment of the Chinese economy has...